Cornerstone Planning LLC Purchases Shares of 77,448 Bank of America Corporation $BAC

Key Points

• Cornerstone Planning LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America, acquiring 77,448 shares valued at about $4.25 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership in BAC remains very high, with major investors like Vanguard, Capital World Investors, and Norges Bank also increasing or initiating positions; hedge funds and other institutions own 70.71% of the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment is still constructive: analysts rate Bank of America Moderate Buy on average, with a consensus target price of $61.06, while the company also recently reported strong quarterly results and declared a $0.28 dividend payable June 26.

Cornerstone Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 77,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,250,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BAC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 651,076,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,809,225,000 after purchasing an additional 23,351,183 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 144,371,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,448,816,000 after buying an additional 14,275,810 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth $4,774,210,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,619,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,169,062,000 after acquiring an additional 2,929,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Bank of America by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 53,783,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,958,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,833 shares during the period. 70.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore cut their price objective on Bank of America from $70.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Bank of America from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Bank of America from $61.50 to $57.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.06.

Bank of America News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Bank of America this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s internal research is being cited as bullish for the bank sector, with commentary that higher rates can still support net interest income even as the Fed holds rates steady, which could help BAC’s earnings outlook. Fed Holds Rates But Signals Hike: Key Takeaways for Bank Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also drew attention for its view that lower-income households may be stabilizing, suggesting the consumer backdrop could be improving and reducing recession fears that would hurt loan growth and credit quality. Miserable K-shaped economy might actually be fading, as lower-income families bounce back, says Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America revealed a roughly 3% indirect stake in Qiagen and reported similar holdings disclosures for Umicore; these are portfolio/ownership updates and are unlikely to have a direct impact on BAC’s core banking results. Bank of America Reveals 3.01% Indirect Stake in Qiagen Umicore - Transparency notifications by Bank of America Corporation
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that a Fed official spoke at a private Bank of America client dinner may attract headlines, but it appears more like a reputational/regulatory talking point than a direct earnings driver. The Fed's vice chair of supervision spoke at a private dinner Bank of America hosted for clients hours after the central bank announced its latest policy decision
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America is facing fresh scrutiny tied to regulators’ upcoming “debanking” findings, which could create policy and compliance concerns for large banks like BAC. Bank Of America (BAC) Faces Fresh Scrutiny As Regulators Ready Debanking Findings

Bank of America Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE BAC opened at $56.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $399.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.18. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $52.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Bank of America Corporation has a 52 week low of $44.75 and a 52 week high of $57.98.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.11. Bank of America had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The firm had revenue of $30.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Bank of America Corporation will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of America news, insider Geoffrey S. Greener sold 126,756 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $6,719,335.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,373,397 shares in the company, valued at $72,803,774.97. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Bank of America Profile

Bank of America Corporation is a multinational financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It provides a broad array of banking, investment, asset management and related financial and risk management products and services to individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, governments and institutional investors. The firm operates through consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking and markets businesses, offering capabilities across lending, deposits, payments, advisory and capital markets.

Its consumer-facing offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity lending, auto loans, credit cards and small business banking, supported by a nationwide branch network and digital channels.

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